Networks and cities' news

When is a Wasteland? A Critical Understanding of Infrastructure and Residual Spaces - by Brian Rosa

Urban peripheries in Europe tend to be disorderly landscapes, and the overlay of infrastructures often create areas depicted as ‘wastelands’. In this article, Brian Rosa reflects on the definition of such spaces and the uses they host. He also looks at transformation processes that aim to repurpose these residual spaces.

Hacking our cities and testing our ideas – reflecting on 2021 in the iPlace Project

Sometimes the restrictions that limit our way of working can be turned into a positive. The ten cities who are partners in URBACT’s iPlace Project set themselves the task of giving their citizens the opportunity to ‘hack their city’ in the midst of the Covid19 pandemic with severe restrictions on physical interaction in the countries of all the partners.

Vilawatt UTM Learning Webinars - How to convince citizens and companies in the city to be more efficient in their energy use

In the last Vilawatt UTM webinar, the partner cities had the opportunity to discuss another of the fundamental issues for the transfer process of the Vilawatt Innovative Practice in depth: How to convince citizens and companies in the city to be more efficient in their energy use. 

Focus on Braga (PT) - The house that gives back the hope for a better life

In the scope of Braga's Integrated Action Plan, Braga Municipality is developing the House of Skills, a project that aims to create an innovative transitional housing solution to integrate homeless people who are in temporary accommodation centres. The project includes a programme of personal and social development and employability skills for this public, with a view to their professional and social reinsertion.

Site Visits to CO4CITIES Partners: a First Glimpse into the Transferability Plan

From June 2021 Levente Polyak, the CO4CITIES Lead expert, has been visiting all the Cities involved in the Transfer Network with the active involvement of local stakeholders in order to discuss challenges and objectives that will be included in the Transferability plan.

Levente has been guided through the cities of Turin, Gdansk and Cluj-Napoca while he organized meetings with several local stakeholders in Budapest, his hometown.

Heritage-driven urban development and regeneration. The KAIRÓS journey - by Lead Expert Miguel Rivas

Heritage valorisation nurturing urban development

Two major changes are impacting the heritage field over the past years. The first one is about a change of scale. Today, the spotlight is not so focused on the building and the monumental artefact, but also on the urban fabric and the idea of cultural landscape, which became doctrine in 2011 with the adoption by UNESCO of the recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape.